Texas Sage 'Green Cloud' (Leucophyllum frutescens 'Green Cloud') 1-gallon
Approximately 1 ft. wide and tall.
Texas Sage 'Green Cloud' pruned like 'cupcakes'
Now you are stuck with a plant that does not fit the area you planted it in, so you are constantly pruning it back (high-maintenance). Now your beautiful plant no longer looks so nice (above & below). It now looks more like a 'cupcake' because you have pruned it back in order to keep it small enough for your space. No more flowers, no nice foliage....
More 'cupcakes'
Unfortunately, there is an epidemic in our area of homeowners and landscapers who prune flowering shrubs so that they end up looking like 'cupcakes' or 'poodles' just so that they fit into their allotted space. More about that in another post....
Texas Sage 'Green Cloud' in it's natural shape.
They can grow up to 8 ft. high and wide, but can be easily maintained at a more moderate 4' x 4'.
Texas Sage Flower
With flowers this beautiful, why plant it somewhere where you will have to prune them off just so it can fit?
So our lesson is.... be sure to READ THE LABEL on your plants before you buy them, which should list how large they will grow, along with the correct sun exposure. If it is not listed, ask the nursery salesperson. Then you can go home and place your new "perfect plant" were they will have plenty of room to 'stretch out' and dazzle you with their beauty.
**For those who would like to know the proper way to prune Texas Sage and other Leucophyllum species; the best time of year to prune is in the spring. I will go over the correct way to prune them in a later post in the spring.
33 comments:
You showed Jason how to prune our Texas sage at our the house and I must say, ours always looked so much nicer than our neighbors' cupcakes =) That is a funny way to describe the way people prune them and totally accurate.
We have lots of "cupcakes" in our neighborhood. I like a more natural look. I always feel that if you are going to plant something that will be there for years...plant something pretty.
Balisha
LOL at those cupcakes. I love the natural shape much better!
good tip!
Rosey
Cupcakes..... :~(
I'm losing a lot of sunlight as the neighbors' trees grow ever higher. Less sun/warmth for salvias - I miss their blooms tremendously!
Hope the 'cupcake' epidemic does not worsen during flu season!! Alice
Very good advice. It applies to everything, doesn't it? Don't bite off more than you can chew? I remember my Dad telling me that. LOL
Good post it was so informative-when we first moved here the past residents had planted so many plants, so close together we had to take some out. I'll be watching for your post in the spring.
vickie
This is funny!
Hi Grace,
Thanks for commenting!
Back when I managed commercial landscapes, I would always train my landscape crew on the right way to prune these shrubs. But, over time they slowly started reverting back to 'cupcake' pruning and I would have to retrain them all over again....
This is something new to me! Cupcakes? So very apt. The natural shape as shown in your photo is really beautiful!
Very good post. I do feel sad for plants that end up looking like cupcakes (I just love that term!!). It sure does look so much prettier growing naturally. I see that look a lot in public places like strip malls.
Noelle, So very true. I feel your pain at traing crews, been there done that. I just refered to misplaced plants in my latest post Bloody Bougainvillea. Topiary has its place but its just not for me in most landscapes.
Great topic, and great treatment of the topic. Well done,Noelle.
Scott
I have never seen 'cupcakes' in the landscapes here. I have read about 'crepe murder' though. I have two Texas sage in huge pots, and I've been trimming them, and after reading your post realize I need to 'let them grow'. I need to move them to a different location so they can spread. I have another one in a huge terra cotta pot that I don't trim and it blooms more, now I know why. TX sage is one of my favorite plants, as I am partial to purples/blues in my gardens. I look forward to reading about pruning these come spring.
FlowerLady
I haven't seen cupcakes in the landscape before seeing your pictures, but I've seen a lot of meatballs! Texas Sage looks so wonderful growing naturally.
This post made me laugh. I'm not familiar with Texas sage, so when I saw the first two cupcake photos, I didn't know why people would grow it. Then I saw your last two pictures, with the natural shape, and pretty flowers, and understood.
The previous owners of my house planted a Viburnum, that grew taller than the house, with it's trunk a hand distance from the house. It was madly overgrown for the spot. I suppose that in its pot, it looked the same as the perennial that would grow 2 feet tall. Literacy is a good thing.
Hi,
It;s Rosey again. I can't believe I wasn't on your followers list! I love your blog, and visit it plenty to get good info, I guess since I faved you on Blotanical I forgot to follow you as well.
Have a good weekend, Noelle!
Thank you all for your comments. I appreciate them so much!
Rosey, thank you for following me!
Our oldest lives in Tutsin Ca and wants to garden in their yard. I'm sending her to your site. We have all the water we ever need and it will snow about 100 inches in the winter. I am amazed and impressed by dry climate gardeners.
Wow..I am in love with those giant green cupcakes..super cool!They almost seem magical! Great post!! Lovely photos and varieties!
This is too funny, Noelle. We have some of those around here, too. And some that look like bowling balls! I guess it's better to have a cupcake than a dead plant - but only slightly ;-)
Meatballs, mustaches, and now cupcakes--too funny. I'm sure most of this sort of pruning is to keep a misplaced plant in bounds, as you note. But sometimes I have to wonder if people just like to prune things -- to "keep things neat" -- and end up with this by accident.
I know first hand. My front bed has esperanza (way to big) for the area. So, I am going to put it in the backyard or give it to a neighbor. It is too much work and no blooms. Good post and soooooo true! -Amy
Good post how true we all do it.
I tend to move things when i realise they are going to get too large and try to get cuttings going first just in case I have a casualty. With care though most things will move otherwise how would landscapers move mature trees.
I like your discreption of cup cakes very good.
It's frustrating just *to look* at plants treated like that. Sigh.
Great post! Save all the plants from such pruning! Lovely plant in its true form and flower... what a beauty. Carol
Here we have lots of Burning Bush cupcakes, that are really obvious right now ... ha - the cupcakes made me laugh!
Those cupcakes are very odd looking and not eye-appealing at all! I've never seen anything like that here. But I totally understand the 'too large for that area' conundrum. I am guilty of planting a few of those myself...and yes, I've had to keep them trimmed so they'll fit into the space. Problem is, if I like the bush, I want to try it out. For me, pruning has never looked 'bad' on a bush and I do get to enjoy their blooms...azaleas, burning bush, and others. I agree with your point--although sometimes I suppose I do break the rules!
Those blooms are so gorgeous it should be criminal to prune them so they don't bloom. Great word for this type of pruning too.
Hi Noelle, I laughed at the cupcake shape. Somehow even though you know it will outgrow its space, you often just can't believe such a sweet little thing will ree-ally get so big. (There's an Australian song called "From Little Things Big Things Grow" - wasn't about plants, but it could be.) Cheers, catmint
What great advice. I wish the previous owners of my home had heeded your advice. They planted shrubs near the house and along the walkway that grow 8-feet high and wide. We tried trimming them a few times, but they need to go.
Wonderful post. I've seen sage cupcakes in New Mexico and am not even sure I've seen the plant in its natural state.
In Houston I occasionally see asymmetrical planar blobs too. I always attributed it to the pruner pretending to be a Jedi with his weed whacker.
I never thought of cupcakes, but pillboxes and lollipops are rampant here.
In a nearby town, you could tell which houses thad the same yard man. All the formerly beautiful Camellias had been pruned to a lollipop on a single trunk.
I appreciate you all taking your time to give me your impressions of our "cupcake epidemic". I feel quite passionately about it and will be doing a follow-up post in the spring.
This epidemic is common in some upright areas. The sages are looking terrific.
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